The West End Plaza is in the process of upgrading its network. Beginning with our broadband, we’ve upgraded from Comcast Business cable Internet to Cenury Link’s fiber offering. We’ve gone from 150Mbps/20Mbps service to 300Mbps/300Mbps service.
What does that mean? See for yourself:
Speed Tests
If you want to run your own speed test, the following sites are recommended for testing our building’s fiber connection. These sites can deliver fiber speeds from their servers to your desktop. Some sites (SpeedTest.net) will direct you to various hosts that may not be able to ‘keep up’ with our faster connection.
Why doesn’t My computer see the full speeds when I run a Speed Test?
If you are testing over wifi, there are a number of factors that may limit your speeds. Try again with a wired connection. If you are running a Windows system, look at the answer to the next FAQ as well.
How come my Windows based computer doesn’t see the full speeds?
This is likely one of two reasons. 1) are you testing over wifi or with your system plugged in directly to the network port with a wire? 2) Windows systems have limitations in their network drivers that may not allow for full speed utilization without some system tuning adjustments.
My Mac is wired directly to the network with an adapter (dongle) and I still don’t see full speeds. What gives?
Mac dongles need to be USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt spec in order to transfer at full speeds. Older USB to Ethernet adapters will only transfer at 100Mbps max.
Do I need to buy any new hardware?
No. Your existing equipment will continue to work as before. It just may not deliver the optimum speed and experience.
What wireless router should I upgrade to?
To meet current and future specs, you’ll want a wifi router that supports Wireless-AC standards (Wireless N, at a minimum). Your wifi router will also need to have gigabit speed WAN and LAN ports (where the wire plugs in).
Until our network is moved over fully, we are running two networks in parallel; the old Comcast network, and the new fiber network. Since other people are using the older network as we phase in our upgrade, the printer is still connected to the old network. If you are on the fiber network and need to print, please login to one of the West End wifi networks (West End 4th Floor, West End 3rd Floor, West End 2nd Floor, or Boardroom-Guest) and you can access the printer as before. 3rd floor and 2nd floor offices are still on the old network as well.